Dave
Mele,
president
of

Homes.com
since
2014,
has
left


CoStar
Group
to
pursue
“an
opportunity
outside
of
the
real
estate
industry,”
he
confirmed
to


Real
Estate
News
on
Friday. 

During
his
tenure,
Mele
guided
Homes.com
through
its
acquisition
by
CoStar
in
2021
and
its
emergence
as
a
significant
player
in
the
home
search
market.

“We
are
grateful
to
David
Mele
for
his
contributions
to
Homes.com
over
the
past
year,”
Andy
Florance,
CoStar
Group
founder
and
CEO,
said
in
a
statement
provided
to

HousingWire.
”He
was
a
member
of
a
very
talented
and
motivated team
that
is
successfully
launching
Homes.com,
the
industry’s
first
agent
friendly
portal
with
more
than
one
hundred
million
unique
visitors
that
empowers
agents
to
sell
homes
faster
and
for
more
money. 
We
wish
him
the
best
of
luck
in
his
future
endeavors.“

Mele
played
a
pivotal
role
in
CoStar’s
strategy
to
dominate
the
residential
real
estate
sector,
advocating
for
the
“your
listing,
your
lead”
philosophy.
Prior
to
CoStar’s
acquisition,
Homes.com
sold
buyer
leads
to
agents
but
ceased
this
practice
after
the
deal.

As
part
of
his
leadership
role,
Mele
oversaw
CoStar’s
residential
division,
including
the
integration
of

Homesnap
into
Homes.com
as
Homes
Pro.
He
also
handled
layoffs
during
the
merger.

Under
his
leadership,
Homes.com
experienced
substantial
growth
in
web
traffic,
solidifying
the
portal’s
position
as
a
top
home
search
site.
In
its
first-quarter 2024
investor
presentation,
CoStar
Group
announced
that
Homes.com
had
surpassed
110
million
monthly
unique
visitors,
based
on
data
from
Google
Analytics.
This
made
CoStar
the
second
most-visited
residential
listing
site,
trailing
only

Zillow. 

Realtor.com
CEO
Damian
Eales

recently
took
issue
with
CoStar’s
claims
that
Homes.com
has
surpassed
Realtor.com
as
the
second
most-trafficked
home
search
site
during
the
MLS
Forum
at
the


National
Association
of
Realtors’
annual
legislative
meeting.

Mele
also
spearheaded
Homes.com’s
monetization
efforts,
launching
the
Homes
Pro
membership
plans
earlier
in
2024.
In
the

first
quarter,
the
sales
team
for
Homes.com
generated
nearly
$40
million
in
net
new
bookings.

“This
is
by
far
the
strongest
sales
launch
of
any
product
in
the
company’s
history,
and
we
are
raising
our
sales
and
revenue
forecast
for
Homes.com
for
the
full
year
2024,”
CoStar
CEO
Andy
Florance
said
about
Homes
Pro
during
his
Q1
2024
earnings
call. 

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